Quick release rope holder



March 27, 1962 c. R. STUMPFF 3,027,130

QUICK RELEASE ROPE HOLDER Filed May 27. 1959 I I INVENTOR I E I A w 26? I Wa kman? liampff A BY United States Patent '0 3,027,130 QUICK RELEASE ROPE HOLDER Clarence R. Stumpff, The Wheatland Times, Wheatland, Wyo. Filed May 27, 1959, Ser. No. 816,202 Claims. (Cl. 248-309) The present invention relates to rope holders, and more particularly to a holder for releasably securing a rope or lariat to a saddle.

It is frequently necessary that a rider be able to disengage a rope or lariat from his saddle very quickly, particularly in rodeo contests, but also in ranch work. Nevertheless, the rope or lariat must be positively held to the saddle when not in use. Consequently, it has been the custom in the past to tie the lariat to the saddle with a loop of string. This is an unsatisfactory expedient because the string does not always break with the first pull upon it, so that a substantial amount of time may be lost in attempting to remove the lariat from the saddle. In a rodeo contest, the time consumed in two or three pulls at the string may well be the difference between success and failure in an event.

The apparatus of the present invention is designed to permit the rider to have his lariat or rope positively fixed to the saddle in convenient position, but to enable the rider to remove it very quickly and easily by merely pulling upward on the lariat. The holder is designed to require a constant force to release the lariat from the holder, so that the same amount of pull will be necessary each time the lariat is to be released. Thereby, the rider may always be assured of being able to release the lariat on the first try, so that the possibility of lost time may be eliminated.

The apparatus of the invention will be more fully described in conjunction with a preferred embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the holder of the invention shown in position on a saddle, with a rope or lariat held thereby;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the holder and associated lariat;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational View of the apparatus of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 3; and,

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 3.

Referring first to FIG. 1, the holder is indicated generally at 1 and is designed to be fixed to a saddle 2. As shown in the figure, the holder includes a cord 3 formed into a loop to support the usual lariat or rope 29.

Referring now to the other figures showing the holder in more detail, the cord 3, which may be of braided nylon, has a ball 4 at one end thereof held by means of the conventional knot 5. The cord extends through a passageway 6 in the ball, shown in FIG. 5. As indicated, the balled end of the cord is releasably secured by the clip portion 7 of the holder, while a remote portion 8 of the cord is clamped in the clip. The cord therefore forms a loop through which the lariat 29 may extend. Thereby, the lariat is held positively to the saddle until the rider wishes to release it therefrom.

The clip 7 includes a base plate 9 provided with appropriate screw holes 10 so that it may be fixed to the saddle 2. As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, a U-shaped structure generally indicated at 11 is fixed to the base plate 9 by a connecting web 12. The U-shaped structure includes a pair of parallel resilient metal fingers 13 and 14 which extend upwardly with respect to the connecting web 12 and have their distal ends separated by a spacing smaller than the diameter of the ball 4.

In order that the ball and the associated end of the cord 3 may be held by the fingers 13 and 14, the fingers are provided with notches 15 which extend inwardly through each finger from the sides thereof next adjacent the base plate 9. The notches are sufficiently large that an appreciable portion of the ball may extend into them when the ball is in place, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

It will be apparent that the balled end of the cord 3 may be releasably fixed to the clip by lifting the ball up over the clip and inserting it between the fingers in the notches 15 from the rear side of the fingers 13 and 14. Then, the ball and its end of the cord may be released from the clip by pulling on the looped portion of the cord, or the lariat extending through that portion, outwardly or upwardly of the base plate.

In order that the force necessary to remove the balled end of the cord from the clip may be adjusted, the fingers 13 and 14 are provided with passageways l6 and 17 extending therethrough and with an adjusting screw 18 extending through passageway 16 and threaded into passageway 17. Thereby, when the adjusting screw is rotated in one direction, the resiliency of fingers 13 and 14 is decreased, while, when the adjusting screw is moved in the opposite direction, the resiliency of the fingers is increased. This obviously provides for adjustment of the restraining force on the balled end of the cord.

The base portion 19 of the -U-shaped structure 11 has a passageway 20 extending therethrough, so that the other end of the cord may be inserted through the passageway and into area 21 (FIG. 5) between the U-shaped structure and the base plate. The passageway 20 is defined by the bottom portion 19 of the U-shaped structure, and by a wall portion 22 which is shorter than the base portion 19. Therefore, in the area inward from the wall portion 22 with respect to the base plate 2, the upper surface of the cord 3 is exposed. This portion, indicated at S in FIG. 5, is clamped to the clip by a metal tongue 23. The tongue is journaled on the adjusting screw 18 and has a clamping portion 24 at its lowermost end, as shown in FIG. 5. This end of the tongue is urged in a counterclockwise direction by a spring 26 which is also journaled on the adjusting screw 18.

The spring 26 is of U-shape in plan and has its distal ends bent outwardly with respect to each other to bear against the inner sides of the fingers 13 and 14, as shown in FIG. 3. The spring is normally generally planar in configuration but is distorted into the shape shown in FIG. 5 when in use, so that its lowermost surface will urge the clamping surface 24 of the tongue 23 in a counterclockwise direction. The tongue 23 also has a flattened thumb portion 27 remote from the clamping portion and readily accessible from the saddle side of the clip. The rider may readily press the thumb portion 27 of tongue 23 in a clockwise direction, thus releasing the clamp, and then adjust the cord to provide as large or as small a loop in the cord as is desired. The cord may therefore be adjusted to lit the size of the lariat.

In use, the rider may insert the end 25 of the cord through the passageway 20 and downwardly through the area 21 between the base plate 9 and the bottom 19 of the -U-shaped structure, While forcing the tongue in a clockwise direction. When the appropriate portion of the cord 3 is opposite the clamping surface 24, the rider releases the tongue so that the portion 3 of the cord is clamped with respect to the clip 7. The rider will then pass the cord around the coiled lariat, as shown in the drawing, then upwardly over the upper end of the metal fingers 13 and 14 and downwardly and into the notches 15 in the fingers. The ball 4 will fit in the notches between the fingers and the corresponding end of the cord will be releasably held with respect to the clip.

When the rider wishes to release the lariat, he need only grab the lariat or the looped portion of the cord and pull upwardly or outwardly with respect to the clip to force the balled end of the cord out from between the resilient fingers. One pull will be sufiicient to release the cord and the lariat will then be free for immediate use.

It will be apparent that many minor changes could be made in the apparatus described in conjunction with the drawings without departure from the scope of the invention. Specifically, any appropriate means could be employed to adjustably clamp one portion of the cord with respect to the clip and any appropriate means could be devised to releasably secure the remote end of the cord with respect to the saddle. These two features of the apparatus, however, are essential to the invention, in order that a loop of appropriate length may be provided and that one end of the cord can be quickly and easily released from the holder by a simple upward or outward pull on the lariat or the loop portion of the cord. The invention therefore is not to be considered limited to the particular embodiment described in connection with the drawing, but rather only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A holder for releasably securing a rope or lariat to a saddle comprising a cord having a ball fixed to one end thereof and a clip for releasably securing said one end and a remote portion of the cord to the saddle to form a loop through which the lariat may extend, said clip including a base plate adapted to be fixed to the saddle, a U-shaped structure including a pair of parallel resilient metal fingers, said U-shaped structure being fixed to said base plate, the fingers having parallel notches cut into their faces next adjacent the base plate near the distal ends of the fingers, said notches being sufiiciently large that the ball may be placed between the fingers and extend into the notches to be releasably held by the fingers against a pull on the cord outwardly with respect to the base plate, and clamping means for clamping a portion of the cord remote from said one end thereof with respect to the base plate.

2. A holder for releasably securing a rope or lariat to a saddle comprising a cord having a ball attached to one end thereof and a clip for releasably securing said one end and a remote portion of the cord to the saddle to form a loop through Which the lariat may extend, said clip including a base plate adapted to be fixed to the saddle, a metal U-shaped structure joined to the base plate at one side thereof near the base of the U and forming a pair of parallel resilient fingers spaced from the base plate, said fingers having parallel notches cut into their faces next adjacent the base plate near the open end of the U, said notches being sufficiently large that the ball may be placed between the fingers and extend into the notches to be releasably held by the fingers against a pull on the cord outwardly with respect to the base plate, the closed end portion of the U-shaped structure having a channel therethrough through which the cord extends, and a clamping tongue journaled in the fingers and spring-urged to clamp the cord against the base plate.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 including an adjusting screw extending through a passageway in one of said fingers and threaded into a second passageway in the other finger to permit adjustment of the distance between said fingers, said tongue being journaled on said screw.

4. A quick release holder for securing a rope or lariat to a support comprising a clip having a base provided with means for fixedly attaching said holder to the support, a cord having a free end portion with means thereon forming an enlargement relative to the diameter of said cord, said clip including a pair of members with normally spaced outer end portions defining therebetween a passage opening outwardly of said end portions to freely receive said cord therebetween, said passage being narrower than said enlargement to normally prevent move ment of said enlargement through said passage, said outer end portions of said members being resiliently yieldable outwardly relative to their normally spaced relation to permit release of said cord when it is received in said passage by said enlargement forcing said outer end portions apart upon force applied along the length of said cord, and clamping means connected to said clip and forming a part of said holder for clamping with respect to said clip a portion of the cord remote from said free end portion to form a loop between said free end portion and said clamping means through which loop the rope may extend.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 in which said clamping means is releasable to permit adjustment of the clamped portion of the cord to vary the length of said loop.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 491,852 McDowell Feb. 14, 1893 879,591 Roussel Feb. 18, 1908 1,235,217 McFee July 31, 1917 1,422,128 Rager July 11, 1922 2,100,023 Brown Nov. 23, 1937 2,641,808 Tinnerman June 16, 1953 

